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these guys are flying around our siding in the afternoon, by the windows. They're landing on all the windows and siding. what are they doing?

That is a boxelder bug...funny the site I googled was indeed from your state! U of M has information on them, quite interesting! Enjoy....

http://www.extension.umn.edu/d...iculture/dg0998.html

And according to that article they are looking to move in....relocate to a place to spend winter....you must have a nice home!

thx Green Alice...
Great. Just Great!
We face south and are having very nice warm weather with the sun warming up that southern exposure on our vinyl...just what they want!

Ok, now I'm prayin' for our cold temps right now!!!!

We get those every yr. Our home faces south too!
Thanks for naming them I had no idea.

Like the Asian Lady Beetle the Box Elder Bug finds our homes to be a nice place to winter over. You will find that in fairly warm winter days they will come out of dormancy and wander around the house. If you do have them inside do not smash them since they emit a disagreeable odor, if possible capture them and release outside or do as wife does and flush them, trying to teach them to swim she says.

Thanks for that ID here, too. Now I know why it's on my south side near siding.....I have never seen it inside.

I am all for catch and release... . Today while hiking in a nature area we passed an old barn and there they were....about 100 of them glued to the side of barn....my children said look milkweed beetles....and thanks to googling yesterday I named them with confidence! Don't think they will be around my brick home....but surely wouldn't want something that size creeping around inside!!!

So these are "stink bugs"?

No. Stink bugs are quite a bit different. But unfortunately, they also like warm places in cool weather and stink when squiahed!
This particular one is becoming a huge pest in may places. I've already seen traps for indoor use for sale in the grocery store.
http://www.hgic.umd.edu/content/brownstinkbug.cfm

Since neither the Asian Lady Beetle nor the Box Elder Bug will be looking for any food source, or to mate, during the winter a trap probably will do little to catch them unless by accident.
Found this from our local newspaper from many years ago,
"Natural Wonders.
Stinkbug
(Pentatomidae
It's got to be bad enough being a bud. But a stinky one? These bugs must get hardly any dates. Maybe they have nice cars.
Or maybe it's their personalities. Scientists have never eavesdropped on a stinkbug conversation but we know they are beneficial bugs. They don'd eat hugh amounts of our food, and they eat other insects who do.
We could surmise that what smells so vile to us is actually appeaing to other stinkbugs, much the very prodigious amounts of Brut works in certain segments of our own society, But, no. stinkbug cologne is strictly a defense mechanism.
And what a defense mechanism! The fluid is a cocktail of as many as 18 chemicals, the better to repel a wide variety of enemies. Plus, there's a synergistic effect (picture wearing too much Brut and Hai Karate). And a Stinkbug - remember they're pretty tiny - can fire its malodorous charge up to 12 inches.
The cocktail is harmless, but it only has to ruin a predators apetite to keep the Stinkbug alive.
And down on Darwin's lower rungs, that may be the ultimate aphrodisiac.
Chicks dig survivrs, Even stinky ones."

You should spend some time in Florida, you would be amazed at the collection of weird bugs I see around here. LOL!

I know one thing my youngest pup will never do again...bite a stinkbug!

Don't eat much? Cute quote from the newspaper but...
According to the crop reports for the last seasons, this particular invader damaged tons of fruit and vegetable crops. This year not so bad, fortunately....
http://ento.psu.edu/extension/...marmorated-stink-bug
*Damage
In its native range, it feeds on a wide variety of host plants. Fruits attacked include apples, peaches, figs, mulberries, citrus fruits and persimmons. This true bug has also been reported on many ornamental plants, weeds, soybeans and beans for human consumption. Feeding on tree fruits such as apple results in a characteristic distortion referred to as “cat facing,” that renders the fruit unmarketable as a fresh product.
*Apple Damage
This insect is becoming an important agricultural pest in Pennsylvania. In 2010, it produced severe losses in some apple and peach orchards by damaging peaches and apples. It also has been found feeding on blackberry, sweet corn, field corn and soybeans. In neighboring states it has been observed damaging tomatoes, lima beans and green peppers.

The Box Elder bug does not eat much. There are many Stink Bugs some of which do damage crops and some of which are predators of other bad insects. You cannot put them, Stink Bugs, all in one basket.